Abstract: The Lasus family papers document the couple’s experiences during the Holocaust, including Mr. Lasus’s imprisonment in Dachau
in 1938, the couple’s residence in Shanghai from 1939-1948, and their eventual emigration to the United States. The Lasus
Family papers provide insight into the experiences of those German and Austrian Jews who were forced to flee from Germany
and Austria during Hitler’s Third Reich and who spent the war years in Shanghai, China.

Creator:
Lasus family

Related Archival Materials note

Consult archivist for information about other Tauber Holocaust Library collections relating to the experiences of European
Jews in Shanghai during the Holocaust era.

Arrangement note

Collection is arranged in chronological order; items that are undated follow those that are dated.

Scope and Contents note

The collection is comprised of documents and artifacts pertaining to the Lasus’s residency in Shanghai during World War II,
and their subsequent emigration to the United States. Documents are in English, German, French and Chinese. Also included
is a memoir, written in German, by Mr. Lasus, Episode Shanghai. This collection documents the experience of those German and
Austrian Jews who fled to Shanghai. Papers include certificates, identification cards, travel passes and other documents issued
to Shanghai residents. Photographs, letter and documents reflect the experiences of Mr. and Mrs. Lasus during the post-war
emigration process. Of particular interest is a letter written by Mr. Lasus to his sister and brother-in-law recounting his
trans-Atlantic voyage from Ellis Island to Naples, Italy aboard a United States army transport, the General Steward.

Biographical/Historical note

Denied admittance to most countries, thousands of German and Austrian Jews who fled Hitler's Third Reich found their way to
Shanghai, where visas and passports were not required until the Japanese occupation. After 1941, the occupying Nazi-aligned
Japanese forced the Jewish refugees in Shanghai into the Hong Kew ghetto.

Mr. Erich Lasus and Mrs. Mathilde Lasus were Austrian Jews who fled Nazi-occupied Austria for Shanghai, China in May 1939,
where they lived until 1948.

Documents indicate that Mr. Lasus was imprisoned at Dachau concentration camp from November 10, 1938 (immediately after the
Kristallnacht pogrom) until February 27, 1939. In May 1939, the Lasuses left for Shanghai. Mr. and Mrs. Lasus opened a dress
shop in Shanghai in 1943.

Mr. and Mrs. Lasus left Shanghai and traveled by boat to Ellis Island in February and March 1949, where they were interned
before being transported to Naples, Italy. They remained in Italy until 1951, when they were able to emigrate to the United
States.